August 1, 2004
Leading a trio of titles with milestone celebrations, Bunnicula 25th Anniversary Edition by Deborah and James Howe, illus. by Alan Daniel, boasts a new foreword by James Howe to commemorate the 1979 publication of the tale starring a rabbit suspected of vegetable vampirism, narrated by the family dog. .
October 7, 2022
Gr 3-5-The graphic novel adaptation of Deborah and James Howe's 1979 classic has all the humor and charm of the original. Harold and Chester are a dog and cat living comfortably in a home whose dynamic is thrown off when their family returns one day with a rabbit they discovered while seeing Dracula at the movies. When the household's produce starts turning white, Chester immediately believes that the rabbit-Bunnicula-is a vampire who will ultimately destroy the family. Chester's repeated attempts to rid the family of Bunnicula, paired with Harold's common sense thinking, provide for laugh-out-loud moments. Donkin's adaptation of Howe's original story breaks the fourth wall between reader and characters through Harold's epistolary narration as well as communication with the reader via written signs that provide additional commentary. Chester's growing mania and conspiracy theories on Bunnicula, brought to life with Gilpin's colorful and expressive illustrations, will have readers giggling and waiting to see just what the cat will try next. VERDICT A delightful addition to graphic novel collections.-Rosemary Kiladitis
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 15, 2022
In this graphic-novel adaptation of the 1979 book, two intelligent house pets investigate a suspiciously vampirelike bunny living among them. The story, introduced as Harold the dog's manuscript for publication, begins on a dark and stormy night. Harold's owners, the Monroe family (mother, father, two young boys), adopt a mysterious rabbit affectionately named Bunnicula after his discovery at a screening of the movie Dracula. Chester the well-read house cat notices parallels between Bunnicula's behavior and the classic vampire. Convinced that the little rabbit's arrival spells doom, Chester leaps into action while a befuddled Harold tries to keep up. Suspicion and bias have as much to do with anything supposedly supernatural going on in the Monroe household. Harold and Chester are the only two animals who converse and are the protagonists of the story. Layouts are generally made up of four to eight panels of varying sizes, with dialogue among the whole family and theatrically verbose first-person narration from Harold. Full-page and two-page panels are used to heighten a dramatic reveal or give a wholesome moment time to hang in the air. Visual fourth-wall breaks, such as Harold looking directly at the reader or working on the manuscript as it is being read, give readers an inviting angle to the hilarity. The Monroe family members are light-skinned. This pets'-eye-view farce bares fangs but draws laughs instead of blood. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
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